We’re feeling the burn a bit when it comes to our budget. We’ve spent our money on the important stuff and we don’t have much left for furniture and decor. So, I’ve been doing what I do best, shopping the flea markets and the sales.

I’ve seen ads for tons of different mattress-in-a-box companies. I’m sure you’ve seen them too! And even after reading review after review, I couldn’t really determine if any of the companies were different from each other. I also didn’t want to pay thousands of dollars for a mattress from a mattress store.

Enter Amazon Prime Day on July 11th.
It’s a one-time-a-year sale where Amazon puts deep discounts on a bunch of different products. I saw that select mattresses were going to be on sale and since we had been sleeping on a piece of foam rubber on the floor for months, I went ahead and purchased the Zinus 12-inch Gel-Infused Memory foam mattress in Queen-sized. I figured, hey, almost anything will be better than what we had been sleeping on.

The mattress’ usual price on Amazon is $299.99. With the Amazon Prime Day discount, I paid $191.80.

I do think it’s important to note that the mattress had free shipping and I sent to my parents’ house because we were going to be there that weekend. I didn’t want it to sit on the porch at my house all weekend. Unfortunately, there was a snafu with delivery. Their mail carrier left a note that said it needed to be picked up at the post office, although I was under the impression that it could have been delivered. (My mom who was a USPS mail carrier for 20 years also believed it could have been delivered.) My dad ended up driving to the post office and loading the mattress into his truck himself. He is an almost 70 year old man, and definitely should not have had to pick up and load the thing by himself. It probably weighed about 50lbs.

Anyway, before I get into the review portion, let me tell you a bit about my mattress-testing experience. (Get your mind out of the gutter!)

My husband, George and I have been sleeping on an Ikea Spring mattress for the past five years while we lived in the Airstream. This mattress saw a lot of dirt during that time and I didn’t want to bring that dirt into our new home. That being said, I did think the Ikea Hjellestad mattress was a very comfortable mattress, but if I could save $500 and get a similar product, I’m going to do it.

George and I are both young-ish and neither one of us has sleeping issues. George is a tall man with a slender build and I am a short woman with an average build. I say this because once at a mattress store, a salesperson told me that heavier people need a firmer bed. (I have no idea if that is true.)  I do have occasional pain with my left shoulder and I am a stomach sleeper which according to my chiropractor, is the worst kind. Whatever. George and I both prefer a mattress that is on the softer side.

Once we got back to our house with the mattress, we opened the box up and let the mattress puff up for a day in our living room. We then moved it onto the bed we built. It is important to note that with this type of foam mattress, the bed should be resting on a solid piece of wood instead of slats, like a traditional bed and mattress. This type of mattress also does not need a box spring.

After sleeping on this mattress for almost two months, here’s what I think about it.

1. I do not think this mattress has any kind of cooling effect. I am a hot sleeper and this mattress seems to retain some heat. Good in the winter, not so great in the summer.
2. This mattress is firmer than our Ikea mattress and I must admit, I think our Ikea mattress is a bit more comfortable.
3. My shoulder pain has been no better and no worse with this mattress. It’s remained about the same.
4. I do like the low profile of this mattress. If you have a traditional bed with slats, you could easily convert your bed with a piece of plywood.
5. Our experience receiving it in the mail wasn’t an easy one, but if you have good mail carriers in your area, this could be a very easy experience.

Would I order it again? Yes. For the price, it’s unbeatable. Will it last 8 years like a traditional mattress? I don’t know. And although I would hate to create that much waste, I could buy 10 Amazon mattresses for the price of one mattress from a mattress store. You can test the mattress yourself by purchasing it here.

Have you ever ordered a mattress in a box? What did you think about it? Talk to me in the comments!!

This is not a sponsored post. I paid for this mattress with my own money, but if you do click on the Amazon link above and buy the product, I will receive a very small commission.